The present invention relates to a broadcasting system for distributing information to an audience about the contents of a broadcast at audience's request, lessening an amount of access to a broadcasting station from the audience, and controlling the distribution of information from the broadcasting station to the audience in accordance with an amount of the information, a broadcast receiving unit for doing the same, and a recording medium for use in the broadcasting system.
Harmonization between communication and broadcasting has recently been called for, and a VOD (video on demand) service has attracted attention as the forefront of the harmonization. The VOD service is a two-way broadcast service using an existent TV receiver as a video terminal, which allows an audience to watch video information having the same image quality as that of VTR whenever and wherever the audience wishes to do so (on demand). A user sends a signal to a video server of a telephone office through an uplink telephone line and can choose, stop, temporarily stop (pause), rewind video information (e.g., movie) and the like as if he or she operated a VTR at home.
For example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 7-321748 discloses a VOD system for providing the VOD service described above. In this VOD system, a program is distributed from a center (CATV corporation) having a video server and the like to a TV system of each audience at audience's request. More specifically, in the VOD system, the video server stores both pictures of programs to be distributed to the audience and detailed information on the contents provided by the programs, thereby distributing the pictures by request of the TV system and the detailed information on the programs. Furthermore, while a program distributed from the center is on the air, detailed information on a designated one of the contents displayed on a TV screen can be displayed thereon.
As described above, conventionally, new, large-scale equipment has to be provided to constitute a two-way broadcasting system including a downlink telephone line through which a picture is transmitted from the center to each audience and an uplink telephone line through which a request signal or a response signal is sent from the audience, in order to achieve the VOD service.
There may be a case where response or request information is temporarily localized on a specific uplink telephone line from each audience to the center to render the telephone line in a so-called hang-up state. To cope with this, fine control for transmitting request and response signals from the audience at different times, cannot be executed. Furthermore, information to be transmitted to each audience from the center according to an audience's request or response, is conventionally multiplexed with a main broadcast signal and then broadcast, so that there is a limit to an amount of transmittable information.